So Far From Home
by iWillhexYou
Summary: Ariadne Lebeau was not known as the adventurer of the family, so when the day came she announced she was going to leave Xavier's Insitiute and move across the country for Ororo's School of Weapon and Power Mastery the whole family was very skeptical.
1. Chapter 1

(All I will say about this story is it is very different and like so many of my stories is not a very traditional X-men storyline, much as I love Rogue and Gambit I've wanted to try and create some of my own characters for a very very long time. Though Rogue, Gambit, Storm, Logan, and occasionally a few other old characters do appear this is mainly the story of Ariadne Lebeau trying to discover who she is. Being the delicate one in a home full of X-men causes her to take off across the country hoping to complete an intense three year program at Ororo's School of Weapon and Power Mastery. If she completes the program she will return to Bayville worthy enough to be an X-man, but being pushed to her limits physically and mentally makes her call into question whether that's what she wants or if it's what she feels others want from her. Though Ororo knows she must treat Ariadne as she does her other students she is happy to once again rekindle the relationship with her goddaughter and offers her advice whenever the younger girl feels like she's at her worst. But when a dark romance begins Ariadne finds herself more confused than ever and begins to lose her childlike innocence when she's swept into a world of treachery and danger halfway across the world. Her ultimate enemy is a mystery but seems to know everything about her and knows how to use her weaknesses against her. She knows there will be a day she must fight, but she isn't sure if she will have the strength to survive. Give the story a try, if you like it you like it, if you don't you don't. I appreciate any reviews, this will most likely be edited many times and will take awhile to complete, no worries dedicated readers, I'm truly enthralled with my newest character and want to bring her story to life. Thank you all! IwillHexyou)

Prologue:

Ariadne Lebeau was not known as the adventurer of the family, most of her life she'd been the quiet twiggy bookworm who overanalyzed every little thing and kept her siblings in line, so when the day came she announced she was going to leave Xavier's Insitiute for the Gifted and move across the country for Ororo's School of Weapon and Power Mastery the whole family was very skeptical.

Since Ariadne had been young Rogue Lebeau, her mother, had known that fighting and weaponry interested her youngest daughter very little. After controlling her mutation Ariadne lost interest in bettering her skills so she could become an active fighter on the X-men team, which Rogue never pushed her any further than basic fighting skills to protect herself because she knew her daughters strength lay elsewhere.

Though she could not fight in battles Ariadne was very skilled with machines and by age fourteen she could take apart every single X-Jet then rebuild it with her eyes closed. Her mechanical skills continued to flourish and in just two years she was creating layouts for new cars which impressed Xavier to the point he had them built exactly as the young girls plan suggested, there was not a single change and since their creation every machine was used as a key form of transportation for the X-men.

Rogue knew the girls love of machines had to of come from her father, though Remy's skills were limited to motorcycles and cars, but Ariadne had her mother's love of books and journals. When she wasn't working on something mechanical Ariadne had her head stuck in a book, usually one of Rogue's old romantic novels from her youth, and it pleased her parents that she had various hobbies, even if fighting wasn't one of them.

Both Rogue and Remy were very proud of Ariadne but as her two older sisters, Raissa and Desiree, and most recently her brother, Audric, whom she looked up to, became very skilled fighters for the X-men team it was obvious Ariadne felt left out. Even the youngest son in the family, Renaud, who was only twelve, was already showing signs he was going to be an intense fighter and often teased his older sister because he could already take her out in the Danger Room.

After her announcement Rogue felt she needed to have a talk with Ariadne, Remy, who was a very dedicated and concerned father, also wanted to be involved with the conversation, but Rogue insisted she do it alone.

Ariadne was in the backyard sitting on an old swing when Rogue decided to approach her, it was a very hot summer night but there was a small breeze that crossed the pond causing the temperature to cool to perfection.

It still amazed Rogue every time she came home to her country property that was just outside of Bayville, there had been a time when she never imaged any of this would be possible. But ever since she and Remy worked together to gain control of her skin mutation and were successful her life had been full of joy. The first few years of her life after that had been spent traveling with Remy and enjoying the freedom of being able to touch, Remy was the one and only lover she'd ever had, and while he had many in his past there was something about her that kept his eyes on her and no one else.

No one was shocked when they were wed even if she was only nineteen, and soon after the wedding they had bought the big country house at the time wondering what they would do with all the space. But before Rogue was thirty she had five beautiful children filling their home with laughter and life, of course with five mutant children around there was also many moments of chaos. Still, there was nothing Rogue could regret about her past, and even though she knew she was getting old she loved watching her children grow up before her eyes.

However, Rogue hadn't anticipated how hard it would be to start watching her children leave her. The eldest, Raissa, was already married and living on the other side of town, which wasn't much of a distance, but the change was still very noticeable. Very soon she knew Audric would be moving in with Xavier, counting it down to three children, but now with Ariadne considering to leave so quickly she'd only have two left, which was much sooner than she expected. She always thought Desiree, who was so impulsive thanks to her father's genetics, would be the first to leave Bayville, so Ariadne's sudden decision saddened her even though she wouldn't admit it.

"Ariadne," Rogue said as she approached her daughter, catching the girls beautiful but mysterious maroon eyes, which shimmered but were partially` hidden behind glasses, with her own, "you know we all love you even if you aren't an X-man."

"I know," Ariadne said looking to the ground blinking away tears that threatened to spill.

"So why is you wish to attend Ororo's school? We won't stop you Ariadne, I just want to make sure you are going because it's what you want to do, not because you feel pressured to."

"Oh no mom," Ariadne said as she jumped to her feet, ashamed that's the impression she gave to her very own mother, "I do want this for myself. Things are getting bad in the world, they might declare war on mutants any moment if the anti-human groups continue causing trouble, and I want to be able to make a difference, a real one."

Rogue had to look up now because her daughter was superiorly taller than herself, not quite as tall as her father but for a girl she was considered very tall.

"Your right, things are very bad Ariadne," Rogue agreed, "and if you feel you need to do this we will support you one hundred percent. Just promise me something," Rogue paused extending her arms to and embracing her daughter, "if you are miserable I want you to come back home right away you got it! I don't want you doing a single thing you don't want to!"

"Mom," Ariadne replied with a roll of her eyes as she pulled away, "trust me I am going to be fine."

"Fahne," Rogue replied wiping away a few tears that had silently made there way down her cheek, "I know Ororo is going to take care of you. But a word of advice Strings, you better brush up on your kicking skills this summer, Ororo will kill me if she sees I've been allowing you to slouch the way you do."


	2. Chapter 2

Part 1: Transformation

Ariadne refused to tell her family the real reason she was so impulsively taking off to Colville Washington, they would all feel sorry for her and try their best to shelter her, which was exactly what she didn't want to happen. Much as she loved her family they were never very good at hiding the fact that her fighting skills were inferior to their own making them baby her to the point she felt like she was suffocating at times. Before the incident she had always told herself that they doubted her strength and abilities, she had thought for sure that she could protect herself and she could do it very well, but since then she now realized the painful truth, that babying her was a necessity because she could not defend herself as she believed she could.

Once on the plane Ariadne found herself unable to stop thinking about the innocent mutant boy she'd seen being beat up in the park, he could've been no older than her youngest brother, and he was obviously still learning to control his powers as his skin shifted back and forth from being regular to a hairier form. Of course he walked as if there was nothing going on, so he hadn't expected it when the group of older boys jumped upon him and started attacking. There were many people around but no one was doing anything, it mortified Ariadne that not a single person stopped to try and help, so very unlike herself she strolled over, deciding it would be best not to use her powers, and confronted the group. She should have used her powers for next thing she knew she was pushed onto the ground and found herself being the center of their abuse. Her basic fighting skills had left her mind years ago and she had no strength do a thing as they kicked at her stomach and legs. She had been completely helpless without her family around and it angered as well as embarrassed her.

Ariadne knew she couldn't go to Xavier's Institute to begin training because everyone knew her situation and her pride was too valuable to her to attend private lessons that would catch her up with the normal classes. All she wanted was a clean slate; she no longer wanted to be the tall dull bookworm who constantly needed to be looked after. She was determined to go to Ororo's School of Mastery and return with the skills to be an X-man, her main goal was to make some real change in the world before it collapsed under the pressure of the war with humans and mutants. She decided it was also a perk to finish her high school education somewhere other than Bayville High, which she considered to be hell on Earth.

When the plane landed Ariadne didn't go straight for luggage as she was instructed to do, she made a dash right for the restroom where she was eager to pull out her second outfit from her carry on. She'd left in one of her yellow summer dresses and a cardigan, which screamed lame from a mile away. Her last minute secret shopping spree had been a successful one and she'd bought herself a whole new wardrobe that reflected the image she wanted.

As soon as she was done with changing and applying makeup she walked over to the full length mirror and barely recognized herself. As if the purple tube top that exposed her entire stomach wasn't enough she had exchanged her dresses for various pairs of black army pants that made her long legs look longer than she'd ever imaged them to be and topped the whole attire off with a leather jacket.

Though she had the outfit down her main worry had been replacing her glasses with contacts and then applying makeup to her already irritated eyes. But once she painted her eyes a dark brown with a shadow effect and applied her dark red lipstick it was worth any amount irritation.

As she studied herself she realized how much she looked like a younger version of her mother, which was exactly what Ariadne wanted. They had the same light skin and the same dark red hair, only Ariadne's was in a very short bob cut, and could hopefully portray the same badass personality.

Ariadne's older sister Raissa was lucky enough to have their mother's knockout curvy body while her youngest sister Desiree seemed to be born with a natural rebellious attitude, both qualities Ariadne wished she possessed but did not have. She hated that no amount of outer appearance would change how skinny she was, and as much as she wished for confidence to pull off the new look she knew she was still scared little Ariadne inside.

All the thinking about her mother made her reflect on the qualities she possessed from her father, she had his height that was for sure, and was exactly 6'0, which was one of the many features the kids at Bayville enjoyed teasing her about. She also had his structured cheek bones that made her look more anorexic than she already did as well as his distinct chin, which she felt was too masculine for any female.

Sighing because she disliked her facial features Ariadne left to find the group she was sure would be waiting for her, in order to pull off her new self she'd have to get a sudden boost of confidence and she'd have to get it fast. But as the day progressed she found herself going down the opposite path of what she had planned.


	3. Chapter 3

Part 2: Ororo

Orientation was very late in the evening; Ariadne had already unpacked and had a silent awkward dinner amongst current students who knew each other extremely well by the time she found herself with the other new arrivals. She was actually rather stunned by the limited number of new comers, at the Institute there was easily thirty new students enrolling each semester, but besides herself there was only one other girl, whom she had earlier discovered would unfortunately be her roommate, and three guys. No one really offered to introduce themselves and so they all sat in silence, the boy's focusing on Ethelinda, the exotic and coarse beauty whom had made it very clear she didn't appreciate having Ariadne as a roommate.

Ariadne was also aware of a man in the room who seemed to be hiding in the shadows in one of the corners, though she could not make out his face he stood in a very brooding manner that caused her to roll her eyes, she couldn't take the mysterious attitude seriously. She was sure her fellow students didn't see him for their eyes hadn't even trailed over to that end of the room; it was only because of Ariadne's keen eye sight she was able to make him out in the darkness but she didn't have any interest.

Consumed with worry over what the other students would think of her it hadn't even occurred to Ariadne what it would be like seeing Ororo again, the more she thought about it the more nervous she became.

It had been nearly five years since Ororo had left Bayville to begin her own school and she hadn't been back since. Ariadne had no bad memories of when Ororo was around, she'd always been the kindest of teachers and a very loving godmother to all the Lebeau children. It had deeply upset Ariadne's mother and father greatly when Ororo just took off and left. Though Ariadne had been young she knew the reason the beautiful queen of weather had departed so quickly, it was no secret she was in love with the families close friend Logan, and it was no secret he was in love with a fellow member of the X-men he could not have. Ororo never resented Jean Grey, only herself for constantly hoping Logan would realize the happily married mother of three would never have him. Though Ariadne wasn't sure of the incident that finally forced Ororo to leave she remembered the tension that had mounted for months between the two had been taking a painful toll on Ororo. From that moment on Ariadne and her siblings were instructed to never mention Ororo in front of Logan and definitely not Logan in front of Ororo.

Ariadne felt herself jump when the sliding silver doors opened, she could sense the same reaction from the others and all hesitated to breathe as Ororo entered the room.

Ororo was like a goddess as she approached the group in her long green sun dress; her white hair illuminating around her beautifully sculpted face. Age seemed to have no effect over her appearance, the only change about her was that her all knowing eyes seemed to have grown yet darker, allowing her to pierce deep into one's soul.

"Hello students," she announced taking a seat at the circular table glancing over everyone with a inquiring stare, "I hope everyone is settled in their rooms and comfortable with their situations."

Ariadne noted how Ethelinda suddenly gave her a quick but deadly glare with her piercing dark green eyes.

_Ugh get over it, _Ariadne thought to herself, _everyone's stuck with a roommate._

"I'm sure your all aware of who I am and what my position is, but as of this moment I am not simply one of your teachers but am now fully responsible for you like a parent, so I recommend you obey my rules and push yourselves during your time here or I will not hesitate to drop you from my program. Now, I take my three rules very seriously and so do the other teachers, the most important rule I have that each student is required to attend every single one of their classes, unless there is a valid excuse. A day missed in class can never be retrieved so for your sake I wouldn't decide to skip and go to the mall. The second rule is that you must keep your GPA above a 3.0 for those of you who will be attending high school, I want my students to not only excel in combat skills but also their studies. My final rule involves curfew, I will not treat you like children and monitor where you are and how late you are out, as soon to be adults you need to learn to manage your own time schedules, but front doors lock at eleven pm Sunday through Thursday's and one am Friday and Saturday. If you're in the building you are in for the night, if you are out no luck getting back in. I feel my rules are very simple to keep, now there are also numerous house rules developed by the staff that must be followed including cleanup and the separation of boys and girls quarters, I expect you to follow these rules as well or you will come and see me. Tomorrow you will receive the handouts including all these rules and it's best to read them so you are able to avoid any major mistakes."

Ororo paused looking the group over to make sure they were keeping up with her fast pace, she was always one for getting the rules over with so that they could move onto introducing each other.

"Now that we have concluded the basics of the rules and I've made myself very clear about the consequences why don't we take some time to get to know one another. If I were in your shoes boys and girls I'd come to be good friends with the people you are sitting next to because for the next year your all going to be spending a lot of time together. So, Zack, would you start us off please by giving us your full name, where you are from, your nickname, and then describing your powers?"

A large smile suddenly lit up the handsome blonde's face as he nodded towards his classmates, "Well, my name is Zack Simmons and I am from Austin Texas. They call me Blade," he said extending his wrist forward allowing a small but sharp blade to slide from his skin, the action reminded Ariadne of the way Logan's blades extended from his fists, but she had the feeling he was not done explaining for he had a mischievous grin on his face.

"That's it?" Ethelinda suddenly spat looking over to examine the blade, "That thing looks like it could barely stab through a pillow."

"Really?" Zack chuckled suddenly turning his fine eyes towards Ariadne who sat directly across the table from him.

Before she could blink Ariadne felt a small gush of wind fly right past her ear slightly moving her hair, followed by a thump on the wall behind her. It took a moment for her to process that he had just launched his blade and she realized if it had been just a little more to the right she would have lost an ear.

"Pretty sure that could go through a skull or two," Zack continued quickly winking at Ariadne who was giving him a death glare before turning his attention back to Ethelinda who had a wide smile on her beautiful face.

"Now things are getting interesting," she commented with a hint of humor in her voice. "My name is Ethelinda, Ethel for short, Ethel Santos. I'm from Arizona and on the battlefield people call me Viperidae."

"Viperantete what?" Zack questioned, "What the hell does that even mean?"

"Means noble snake," Ariadne stated in a very low voice just barely loud enough for others to hear.

"Yea that's it," Ethelinda replied shooting yet another glare at Ariadne, her focus quickly turning back to Zack. The heat between their stare indicated they were both very interested in each other, of course Zack's gaze only rested on her eyes momentarily before moving lower to devouring the sight of her breasts, which were hanging out of her low cut white top.

"Your power would be what exactly?" another one of the boys who had been silent until that moment stated trying to pull Ethelinda's attention from Zack to himself.

She simply smiled as she turned her eyes to her new eye candy, "Literally I am a venomous snake," she said her eyes turning a bright fluorescent green, then suddenly her odd shaped but intriguing lips parted and out slide a very long serpent like tongue. Ariadne was shocked all the guys were able to contain themselves from pouncing on her, for the sudden look of desire in their eyes intensified and it was obvious they were all imagining what she could do with that tongue.

"Thank you Ethelinda," Ororo commented with a small smile crossing her lips, "possibly we will shorten your nickname to Snake for the time being just until we get to know each other better, but let us continue on, let's hear from you Kevin."

"Umm yea," Kevin, the boy who had spoken previously, replied swallowing hard before tearing his eyes from Ethelinda. "My name is Kevin Miles and I'm from Chicago. I don't really have a nickname, I just sort of fly, no wings or anything, my family would call me Falcon as a joke but it really doesn't make any sense."

"Hmm, very interesting," Ariadne heard someone comment but was too distracted staring at Kevin to take notice of whom. Out of the three guys he was definitely her favorite look wise; his hair was a dirty blonde and curly, while his body resembled that of Zack's. However, Kevin was very different because he was missing the cocky jock feature the other boy had and his smile was genuine and adorable.

When Ariadne pulled her eyes from Kevin the final boy was speaking, he was the complete opposite of Zack and Kevin, he was tall, skinny, had glasses, and a pretty bad case of acne, but beneath the outward appearance Ariadne got the feeling he was a nice guy.

"My name is Dylan Craigbom and I'm actually from Colville, born and raised. People always liked to call me Hardhead because when someone hits me it doesn't affect me at all," at this point his voice was shaking from nerves but he continued, "the bullies use to spend hours and hours trying to thrust a hard enough punch to break my nose, but it was always their hands that broke instead."

"Very cool," Kevin said with a big smile.

"No kidding, I'd like to have that power," Zack commented causing the other boy to smile.

_At least they are making him feel comfortable_, Ariadne thought, a sudden shudder running through her when she saw Ororo nod her way, indicating it was her turn.

"My name is Ariadne Lebeau," Ariadne said hating the fact that everyone's smiles dropped the moment she began to speak, "I'm from Bayville New York and my nickname use to be Strings."

Ethelinda suddenly burst into a short but very mocking laugh, "Strings? Should be something more like Twig Girl."

Ariadne wanted to shoot Ethelinda a dirty look but instead she dropped her eyes to the table and continued speaking as if the other girl hadn't interrupted, "My powers kind of hard to explain, I guess I kinda make string…"

"Psh what good is a power like that!" Ethelinda stated finally receiving disapproving looks from the other students, all of them feeling she was pushing it too far.

"How do you use it?" Zack questioned once again trying to catch the girls maroon eyes but was unsuccessful.

"Well," Araidne said bringing her hands up and softly running them over each other briefly before observing a red string she knew the others could not visibly see, "No one else has ever seen it but I can create this red string in my mind and I just use it."

She could tell Zack was about to ask another question but Ariadne suddenly flicked her wrist sending the string where she wanted it to go and pulled both Zack and Ethelinda's chairs forward until they were against the table.

"Dang, it's like you have an invisible lasso! What a unique power!" Dylan cried as he watched the mutants from across the table have to rearrange their chairs.

"Alright," Ororo broke in catching the young student's attention, "you will have plenty of time to get to know each other better I promise, but I fear there is someone here who is very important but has yet to be noticed. I'd like to introduce you to your first year teacher, whose methods and behaviors might seem rather odd but he will train you well, let me present my good friend Marcius," as Ororo concluded she indicated towards the area where Ariadne had noticed the man beforehand.

When their future teacher stepped out of the shadows Ariadne couldn't help but instantly wonder how he could possibly be a teacher when he looked only a few years older than his students. She wasn't sure whether it was because of his age or his looks but she was having a problem drawing her eyes away from him.

Ethelinda's gasp indicated she had the same thoughts going through her head and as much as Ariadne wanted to be mature about it her eyes would not move from away from him. He was tall, very tall, easily towering over herself and his features from head to toe were dark and rugged. His hair was a jet black and cascaded in loose curls down to his shoulders, while his eyes were a very stern yet beautiful brown. She had always considered her brothers to have very harsh features but this man Marcius was the very definition of harsh, which is partially why Ariadne felt herself drawn to him.

However, when he suddenly met her eyes with his own she had no problem returning her gaze back to the table, his next few words were about her and she had to hide a blush of embarrassment that threatened to paint her cheeks red.

"No worries Storm," he said in his deep and intoxicating voice, "I was noticed, just not acknowledged."

Turning back to the students he began circling the table taking in each person with a cold glare, almost like he was trying to discover their faults and preparing for a harsh judgment. He laid his eyes on Ariadne no longer than anyone else and she was very grateful for that, she felt she had more imperfections than the others and couldn't bear to have him stare at her.

"Marcius will be your instructor for two of your three daily classes," Ororo continued, "he specializes in hand to hand combat, which is what he will be teaching for your first year, as well as ancient weaponry for the advanced students. Your class with him will be after school from 3:30 until 5 Monday through Friday, followed by an individual half an hour class for critique. Now your beginner's weaponry class with me is everyday of the week from 5 to 6:30 am, I trust you will all arrive on time and ready to work."

Though there was not a hint of enthusiasm to be found in the young group's eyes they all nodded already understanding how important it was they be prepared.

"I'm very glad everyone understands and is willing to follow my rules, I guarantee that not a moment of your time at my school will go to waste. That is all I have to say about rules and regulations, I believe Marcius has a fun activity planned for everyone this evening so I will let him take over."

"I will see you all tomorrow in Danger Room 3 at 5 am sharp," Ororo said taking one last look at Ariadne before departing the room.

Ororo had never been so eager to get through an Orientation in all her years of running the school like she had tonight. Much as she adored her goddaughter, whom she'd have to be extra careful not to give special treatment above the other students in the classroom, and all her godchildren, she was still not ready to be reminded of her life back at Xavier's.

After glancing at Ariadne for the first time in the flesh for five years a lovely memory came flooding back to Ororo. The gardens at Xavier's were so beautiful during mid-summer and that's where Logan had been playing with young Ariadne one afternoon when Ororo decided to bring the joyful pair a pitcher of fresh lemonade. Though Logan was a man with the blood of hundreds on his hands when he held the young child he took such great care that it melted Ororo's heart and from that day on she'd sent herself down a road of misery by falling in love with him.

However, as the Orientation progressed she began remembering the not so pleasant memories and constantly had to touch the tiny scar on her throat that felt like it was once again open and on fire. She'd never be able to forget how her throat fit perfectly between Logan's two outer razors, the middle just barely pressing to her throat. Though it had done no serious damage the weight of the blade had drawn blood, trailing down her smooth neck like warm liquid fire.

When Ororo finally reached her quarters she was determined not to open the wounds of the past, she was now in control of her feelings and had a new life with many great responsibilities. She didn't have time to think about a man who brought about his own misery and refused the help of others. However, that night she couldn't dream of anything else, deep down she was and always would be very much in love with Logan.

(BREAK)

_Fun activity? _Ariadne thought to herself as she fell straight to the danger room floor when Marcius announced they were allowed to have a break, _I beg to differ! _

Ariadne's classmates followed her action and joyfully rested on the floor. Even Zack who looked like he was the type use to intense exercise seemed to have the wind knocked out of him, which made Ariadne feel better because she'd kept up with him through their three mile run. However, when they began an extreme form of pilates Ariadne had never been exposed to at Xavier's she felt like her whole body was going to tear in two. The only person who participated and was barely breaking a sweat was Marcius; in fact he was showing the class how weak they were by continuing his workout while the rest took a break.

"Alright class," Marcius announced finally ending his series of pushups, approaching the group with a delightful but evil smile, "that was your warm up, let's get to the fun part, everyone pair up."

Ariadne suddenly felt her blood run cold, she couldn't believe Marcius was just having them fight with no instruction or preparation. Well, she could believe it, she just feared everyone would see how completely useless she was when it came to hand on hand combat. She knew it would have to come sooner or later but she hadn't expected it on the very first day.

Everyone including Marcius paired up for round one, Ariadne was first up against Kevin, whom she was very grateful went easy on her and took her down in the gentlest manner possible given the situation.

Dylan, whom was just as tall and nearly as skinny as she was, exceeded her own skills by far but he was also merciful in his attack. Ariadne could tell he was enjoying it since there were very few people he could take out, so going up against someone worse than himself boosted his ego. _Lucky Dylan, _Ariadne thought to herself as they switched off again.

When Ariadne began with Zack he had a strange look in his eye she couldn't quite understand, at first she thought it was anger, but she began to see his pleasure in pinning her down and watching her struggle helplessly. He was polite enough to let her loose just enough so that she repeatedly could escape, but it was just a matter of seconds before he had her trapped again.

Ariadne was happy she'd managed to keep her face intact thus far but feared that would be over the moment she was paired with Ethelinda, who seemed to have some sort of natural grudge against her. As bad as it would have been fighting Ethelinda it suddenly became even worse when she saw Marcius strolling over for his turn.

_I'm going to die my very first night here, _Ariadne thought to herself as she silently positioned herself in the strongest defense pose she knew, which was not very strong at all. She was sure that fear was apparent in her eyes but that didn't stop her component as he charged forward fists hungry for a punch.

Throwing her arms to her face Ariadne felt herself block at least one punch that had been aiming for the right side of her face, instead bruising her arm. During the time it took Marcius to re-pose she jumped back and was on her toes ready to kick if necessary.

As Marcius dove for her yet again Ariadne was able to bend just in time to miss another punch and she was about to throw a kick at his knees that would knock his feet out from under him, but just as she was about to position herself she suddenly felt two very strong arms grab a hold of her. One was around her waist while the other under her arm, which when she was spun away from him was especially painful for her arm.

"Sloppy poses and slow reaction time, very disappointing," Marcius commented tightening his hold.

Now with the threat of having her arm broken off Ariadne wasn't sure what she should do, Marcius wasn't going to show her any mercy like her last opponents. She was tightly pressed against his body and now both her arms were completely useless, she wanted to scream defeat, but he refused to let go as if he was waiting for her to try something.

Ariadne knew she shouldn't stoop to such cheap tricks especially when she was up against such a skilled fighter but she was out of options and stomped her foot roughly against his, causing him to groan and loosen his grip enough for her to escape. She barely was free when she was suddenly pushed back against one of the walls and found a rough hand pressed against her neck, she felt her feet dangling off the floor and attempted to pull his hand away with her own but found it to be unsuccessful.

"Maybe if you'd eat something every now and then," Marcius snapped at her through clenched teeth, "maybe you would weight more than a five year old!"

Angered Ariadne suddenly pushed her back as far as she could against the wall and extended her knee knocking her opponent right in the gut. It wasn't a very forceful kick but enough to make him drop her to the ground, unfortunately he was prepared and she was not. She remembered too late to block yourself after coming out of your opponents grip and before she could blink Ariadne felt a forceful hit to her face followed by a small but hot streak of blood spill from her nostril.

Marcius finally dropped his arms and stepped away; watching Ariadne pathetically try to wipe the blood away.

"Major rookie mistake," Marcius barked his scowl hot enough to burn through metal, "one of many. I expected a little more from someone trained at the Xavier's Institute."

Ariadne wasn't able to reply, all she could do was lower her eyes in defeat. It was her first day and already she was making an idiot of herself and she still had one more opponent to go. It was obvious Ethelinda was already giving her a burning death glare, kicking the very little motivation she had left down the gutter.

"Alright, that's enough for tonight," Marcius stated ignoring Ethelinda's sudden look of disappointment, "everyone is dismissed."

Ariadne let out a long deep sigh of relief; she wouldn't have her face ripped off by Ethelinda's blood red nails just yet.


	4. Chapter 4

Part 4

Leaning over the sink with a tissue to her nose Ariadne was struggling to hold back the tears of disappointment that wanted to spill. She desperately wanted something good to happen, something that would give her hope that her new life would be different, but the day was coming to a close and if anything she was more miserable than she could've ever imagined.

"Hey!" someone snapped resting a hand on Ariadne's shoulder causing her to jump. Eyes wide she found out it was Ethelinda, most likely wanting to proceed with a fight. "It's nothing against you kay," the shorter girl continued, "I just don't get along with girls."

For a moment Ariadne was confused she wasn't fully understanding why or what Ethelinda was saying.

"Girl's annoy me, especially ones that are tall pretty and complete prissy bimbo's. So there's nothing you can do about it, I just don't like you."

"Ummm," Ariadne replied utterly confused, "okay."

"Okay," Ethelinda stated dropping her eyes to the floor, "glad that's over with. Guess I'll see you in the morning."

Ariadne watched as her new roommate walked away, the girl was strange, but she had tried to make an effort to explain the situation as truthfully as possible. Ariadne knew she was also guilty of not associating with certain people based on appearances, not like she'd actually tell them, which took more gut than she had.

But as Ariadne went back to treating her nose she smiled, she knew it wouldn't be long before her roommate saw she was far from prissy, sure she couldn't fight but she was not what one would call prissy. She knew it would take awhile but she was hopeful that at some point they would become friends.


	5. Chapter 5

Part 5

Generally Ariadne was patient and enjoyed getting to know people before judging them, but as she stood in front of Marcius for the second time in Danger Room 3 something about him bugged her and it wasn't a feeling she could ignore.

Blaming her bad mood on an awful first day of school, her only highlight being a silent lunch with Ethelinda, Ariadne tried her best to concentrate on what her teacher was saying without gritting her teeth through her jaw.

The class had just completed their same warm up as the night before, making Ariadne's legs quiver from continuous strain, but she'd finished with much more determination than before, Marcius harsh eyes pressing her onward when she felt like collapsing.

Storm's class, which had been far too early in the morning, had actually gone quite successfully for Ariadne. She couldn't have thought of a better beginner's weapon than a staff and though she had been clumsy for the first few movements she found it came very naturally to her after time. She partially had her father to thank for that, he constantly fought with a staff and knew tricks that could possibly even perplex Storm. However, Marcius's class was a totally different game and she found herself doing worse as the day went on.

The lesson was actually very basic, techniques to get out of a head lock, not too much of a problem for the males, they had the strength to flip and punch. But even Ethelinda, who showed very little struggle, was doing very well for being such a small girl. Once again the only one who could not keep up with the class was Ariadne and this time it was even more embarrassing. When her turn came and Marcius locked his arm around her neck her objective was to successfully throw him over her shoulder, but instead she stood there barely budging his heavy body, the entire class watching. Finally after she'd managed to roll Marcius's body somewhat down her side rather than fully over her the class was instructed to move onto a new exercise.

A crouch kick was the only move Ariadne could successfully use in a fight, or so she had thought up until the moment Marcius barely stumbled from her attempt to knock him over. She was confused when it was her leg that was throbbing when it was suppose to be his and to her disappointment he'd barely budged.

Ariadne wanted to take a moment to consider what she was repeatedly doing wrong, but Marcius barely gave them time to breathe let alone think. She knew it wasn't a size factor for Ethelinda looked just as scrawny as she did but was completing each exercise perfectly. Trying to figure it out caused Ariadne to become yet more frustrated therefore causing her to lose her drive and by the end of the class. There last exercise had been to pair up and practice the day's lesson, but by that time she'd given up and let herself became a useless bean bag for Kevin to toss and turn as he pleased.

When they finally came to a close Marcius sat the group down and began discussing times for their individual critiques. Zack was to be the first and unfortunately Ariadne found herself being the last for the evening, which she was happy she'd get the longest break but was distressed because it gave her more time to fear for her life.

(BREAK)

Ariadne entered the Danger Room as soon as Kevin was leaving; he was soaked from head to toe in sweat and seemed to use the last of his energy to wish Ariadne good luck, which caused her to reluctantly blush.

It was instantly noticeable that the Danger Room was darker than it had been, making Ariadne wonder if their peculiar teacher was planning a sneak attack, but the moment the metal doors slide shut Marcius emerged from the shadows towards her.

Gulping roughly Ariadne was unsure of what to do, she didn't know if she was suppose to position herself to fight or just stand there. When he eventually spoke she felt herself jump, which his hawk like eyes had not let go unnoticed.

"So, Ariadne," he said pronouncing her name very slowly, "seems a little odd that your parents name you after an obscure Greek Goddess whose only known for spinning red string and strangely that happens to be your power. Did your parents name you before or after the manifestation of your mutation?"

Ariadne could tell her eyes were wide with uncertainty, she wasn't entirely sure why, she certainly wasn't afraid of the man before her, in fact he annoyed her, but there was something intimidating about him that made her uneasy.

"Well…" Ariadne stumbled as he leaned up against one of the shadowed walls, disappearing into the darkness, "my parents are from the South… and respect things like magic, voodoo, and astrology, my mother especially… so basically a fortune teller told her what I would be like."

Ariadne expected to hear her teacher burst into laughter but instead received silence. She figured he was either laughing silently or thought it was too ridicules of an idea to acknowledge. Normally she didn't care what others thought, her parents had named all their children based on what the same fortune teller had predicated and she had been eerily accurate for them all, which made Ariadne believe in the old Southern magic, but as she explained it to her teacher it suddenly sounded so silly.

"That explains the enigma," Marcius commented finally emerging from the shadows, "of your name at least. Now let's discuss why the hell you decided to drag your skinny useless body all the way out here to waste my time. "

Snapping her head up Ariadne locked eyes with Marcius whose serenity was causing her blood to boil with anger. _Does he not have a single compassionate bone in his body? I haven't even been here twenty four hours and he's calling me useless! _Ariadne's mind screamed, very tempted to voice her rage, but instead behaved as she always did and replied back with all the sweetness she could muster.

"I brought my skinny body out here so I could learn and possibly be less useless."

"And how do you feel you're doing thus far? In my opinion you're completely worthless," Marcius snapped stepping closer till he was just an arm's length away from Ariadne.

"Well I thought Ah'd have more than a day to improve mahself!" Ariadne cried, her southern accent becoming more and more noticeable the angrier she became.

"Look Ariadne," Marcius continued in his very harsh but calm tone, "either you got it in you to be a fighter or you don't, I know a fighter when I see one and all I see in front of my is a walking skeleton. You haven't got the strength for it. So why don't you do yourself a favor by calling mommy and daddy and getting out of here before you make yourself look like a bigger moron than you've already done."

"I… I…" Ariadne stammered trying to find the right words to say while at the same time fight back her frustration. He'd hit a raw nerve, she knew she shouldn't have come and tried to be something she couldn't be, but at the same time she hadn't expected to fail so soon, it was humiliating as well as painful.

"Got something you want to say?" Marcius questioned narrowing his eyes, "Either say it or get out of here!" He turned as if to walk away but then suddenly looked back at Ariadne; "Actually…" he exclaimed an eerie smile crossing his lips, "why don't you hit me instead."

"What?" Ariadne cried feeling her fist suddenly itch with the possibility.

"Just hit me, common, you know you want too," Maricus teased raising both arms waiting for her to do something, finally dropping his arms after receiving nothing but a heated glare.

"Knew you didn't have it in you," Marcius laughed suddenly turning intending to leave for good this time.

When he felt the small hand rest on his shoulder he was about to make another snappy remark, but before he could open his mouth he saw the girls small fist make a move for his face, which luckily he ducked, but found himself instantly diving again from another punch. She'd thrown four or five decent ones his way that he'd managed to dodge when he suddenly felt her give him a good one in the gut. It wasn't enough to send him to the ground but he had to admit it hurt, there was no way he was going to stop though, her maroon eyes were on fire and she was giving him the effort he'd tried so hard to get from her all day.

Spinning out of her reach he watched as another punch came flying his way but as he dodged it he ducked and managed to get behind her, grabbing her neck while she was still in a fit of anger. He felt her squirm beneath him and her feet flying on and off the floor, finally she got her feet on the ground and straightened her legs, she was slower than he would've liked for her to be but that wasn't his main concern. Finally, after all his taunting and pushing she was angry enough to grab onto his arm and fling him over her shoulder with all the strength her tiny body had.

Ariadne had almost seemed to blackout through the entire fight, her body moving to its own accord without giving her mind a chance to think about it, and she didn't come to her senses until Marcius was flat on his back against the floor.

"Oh my god," Ariadne cried taking a step away, "I am so sorry…"

"Don't worry about it," Marcius replied as he slowly raised himself from the ground, "you won't have time to apologize to your opponents on the battlefield. Next time you'll want to put more force in your throw so that the attacker hits the ground harder, but what can be expected when you weight nothing at all. Common," he continued as he made his way to the lights turning them all on, "we are going to get you started on weights."

Still a bit overwhelmed from her sudden burst of anger Ariadne nodded and followed as Marcius began making his way to the weight room, she managed to listen intently and was mentally taking notes.

"You will be required to put in four hours of your own time weight lifting each week, I recommend spreading it out and taking it easy at first, later on we will put you on a more intense workout. On top of that you are to eat thirty five hundred calories a day until we get you to a decent weight, the way you are now anyone could pick you up and throw you like a leaf. I'm also going to recommend…"

Marcius managed to talk all the way to the weight room, at which point he became silent only to give a bit of instruction here and there. At first it made Ariadne uncomfortable to work out with him silently watching her, but as the night progressed she became more and more use to him, which she wasn't sure was a good thing or a bad thing. Something about him still intimidated her and she definitely did not approve of his harsh teaching methods.

Later that evening as she sat in her bed struggling to focus on her schoolwork she wondered what she could possibly do to spark the same amount of intensity she'd had in her brief fight with Marcius into all her fights. It took hours later but she finally understood why he had taunted her, she lacked the self confidence to fight and that was a necessity for a good fighter.

Though she didn't know if she had it in her to do it again she wasn't just going to go back home without trying.


End file.
